Phan stared at Ashley silently, brooding.
"There is another way. Another way you could pay me."
"Anything."
"Drown yourself in the Sama Sea. You will shift there soon. Dive deep, to where you cannot breathe. Return yourself to Him - to potentiality - to oblivion."
Ashley trembled. She couldn't speak, but her eyes pleaded.
"There is so much pain in you, and you cause so much pain to others. End the pain forever." Phan smiled. "You are a warped vessel. Drown yourself. If you do not, and you let the current take you, you will stay adrift. You will never be free from His torture. Your agony shall be eternal."
Ashley grit her teeth, seconds from throwing a tantrum.
"What did you do to me? Why are you torturing me?"
"I gave you a gentle push over the precipice. Just a nudge. It would have killed others - but you were barely anchored to begin with. Now you can shift effortlessly. Just like these blowing snows - billowing sands - endless waters that rush across time and space - flowing onward, to eternity."
"Does He want me to die?" Ashley rubbed her face. It had gone numb. "Who is He?"
"He is of whom we do not speak. He loves you, but His love shall cause you endless pain. Drown yourself and that pain will end. You'll be free from Him, forever."
"I'll be dead."
"Death is your only release." Phan grabbed Ashley's hand and dropped another black worm into it. "You know my price. Pay it or do not. Dive deep and end your suffering with death, or stay adrift in the current of time, forever."
Ashley stared down at the worm. It wiggled in her palm and then went still. Snow began to fall again. The wind picked up. Phan walked off, into the curtain of white.
"Who - who is the man with the skeleton hand?" Ashley shouted.
"Beware the man with the skeleton hand," Phan called back to her. "When the Rooster crows, it tolls the end of time."
Ashley watched Phan disappear. When it was gone, she shifted back into Lucy's bedroom.
Mist jumped out of Ashley's hands and took off, racing through Lucy's house with loud, rapid footsteps. Ashley stood completely still, unsure of what to do. She scanned the bedroom. It was exactly as it had been when she and Lucy had shifted out of it.
"Lucy?" Someone called from downstairs. It was a woman's voice. "Are you there? Where in God's name did you go? I was so worried about you."
It's her mom!
Ashley scurried up to the doorway. She peered downstairs, trying to see if anyone was in view.
"Lucy?" The voice seemed to reverberate out of a side room. It was followed by footsteps.
I - I have to get out of here. Now!
Ashley was terrified. She was sure she'd be blamed for Lucy's disappearance. Somehow. They wouldn't even send her to the Youth Center this time. Now she was old enough to be sent to a men's prison or a sanitarium. The thought made her dizzy.
She charged down the stairs and sprinted toward the front door, thinking of nothing but escape. The voice called out to her again, but she paid it no attention. She grabbed the handle and leaned into the front door. It was locked and the handle didn't turn, but Ashley passed through the wood like it was empty air. She almost fell over after she went through it, staggering forward, and then dumbly standing in place on the front porch.
The sun was just beginning to set, hanging over the treetops that lined the back of the housing development. Ashley was still in shock that she had walked right through a door. She stared at her hands for a moment, like they weren't hers, and then took off, running around the house and into the woods in the backyard.
Ashley sprinted through the woods, not thinking anymore, just running. The forest behind the house was a large swath of undeveloped land that had been left to grow wild. The tangled underbrush tripped Ashley every now and then, but she didn't slow down until she was deep into the forest.
Once she felt it was safe, she sat down on a fallen tree, panting.
Lucy's gone. Just like Ian. They'll know. My mom knows. Her mom will know.
I'm screwed. . . .they'll lock me up again. . .
The thought of a prison cell made Ashley remember the door. She pressed her hand against the fallen tree and pushed her body straight through it.
I'm. . .I'm. . .
Ashley didn't even know what to call it. She tried it out on several other trees. She could pass through every one of them like they weren't there. She could pass through the weeds too, effortlessly.
I'm Ashna. Final conduit of Qualkhoikhom. These walls close in but cannot contain me. . . nothing can contain me. . .
When I shift, all barriers cease to be. . . .
Ashley remembered repeating the mantra to herself over and over again while locked up. Now it had taken on new meaning.
No one would be able to lock her up again.
There was no cell that could contain her.
Ashley ran through the forest, giddy and delirious, until well after dark. She passed straight through the trees and the underbrush like a hovering fairy. She tried to weave her way back home, cutting through the woodland, but eventually became lost. Breathless, she settled down in the weeds and fell into a waking sleep, shifting without realizing it.
9.
-Yarba-
(Hope)
Ashley woke up and slowly rose to her feet. She had shifted into a primeval forest. There were no normal trees, only giant ferns and towering palms. The ground was red clay covered in thick club moss. She probed it with her naked toes and began to push her way through the ferns, trying to find a clearing with a better view.
The omnipresent vegetation echoed with high-pitched chirps. They were louder than crickets. More bird-like. Ashley ignored the noise and weaved her way through the foliage. As she brushed up against one of the larger ferns, a pack of knee-high, bipedal lizards scurried out from beneath it.
Ashley jumped back and watched the tiny creatures scatter. One ran straight towards her and nipped at her toes. Its tiny teeth were like razors.
"Oww!"
She kicked the lizard and clutched her foot.
The creature shrieked and disappeared into the club moss. Its shrill cry was answered by a very deep roar that made the ground tremble.
Ashley's throat tightened. She spun around and began to run from the direction of the roar, shifting through the foliage so it didn't slow her down. Something was chasing her with thunderous footsteps. She didn't want to see what it was, but felt an irresistible urge to look back.
A few feet behind her was a seven foot tall monster. It looked like a dinosaur - a giant version of the miniature lizard she'd kicked. It opened its jaws and flicked a forked tongue in her direction. When she tried to dart left, it lunged forward and swiped at her with an open claw.
The claw caught Ashley's arm and gouged her skin, making three deep gashes. She tumbled over from the impact, landing face-first on the hard clay. Without turning back, she gripped the cuts and tried to hide under a nearby fern.
"Hwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
The creature had fallen over from its attack. It jerked itself back to its feet and then ducked its head under the fern with a hiss. Its jaws were inches from Ashley's face - two saw blades of jagged teeth. Ashley squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shift as the creature leaned in to bite her.
An extremely bright flash made Ashley's eyelids glow. It was followed by a deafening bang. Her body was spattered with hot goo.
The dinosaur creature had been decapitated. Its neck was singed, smoking; the head obliterated. Its arms twitched once and it fell over into the clay, dead.
Something emerged from the ferns. The man with the skeleton hand. He was dressed differently than the last time Ashley had seen him - now wearing black and silver armor that flickered with blue arcs of electricity. His chest plate had an azure gemstone in the middle of it, with a spoked wheel radiating outwards. Each spoke ended in an alien glyph.
Without thinking, Ashley turned from him and ran.
&nbs
p; The man with the skeleton hand raised his arm and his suit crackled. An invisible force pulled Ashley back towards him - a vacuum that dragged her feet across the clay. It pulled on her shoulders so hard, she almost fell over.
When Ashley was within reach, the man grabbed onto her shirt, and wedged her up against the trunk of a palm with his armored forearm.
"Anax de vix?"
Ashley squirmed in the man's grasp, staring at his mask - a silver replica of her own face - breathless and terrified.
The man pulled what looked like a metallic beetle out from his armor, and while Ashley screamed, he held her head in place and clipped it onto her earlobe.
"Can you understand me?" The metal beetle chirped the words into Ashley's ear.
Ashley stopped struggling, and the man let go.
"Yes. . ."
The man lifted up his mask. His face looked human; blond hair, blue eyes, a crooked nose. Tattoos covered his jaw line. His lip had been split and scarred over. His eyes looked spatial.
"What are you?"
"I - I," Ashley stammered. "I'm Ashna. I've seen you before."
"As have I." The man nodded. "You are my dream. I saw you in my first memory. I've seen you since I was five years old, but I've never touched you. . .until now."
"Are you," Ashley gulped, ". . .Qualkhoikhom?"
"No. Qualkhoikhom is the last of the ancient ones. The Observer. I am Akamaz - the Rooster. Son of Nhamwat of the Archae-Aticama. To say 'Qualkhoikhom' is blasphemous. Use Kaos as His name to show your respect."
Ashley's heart was still in her throat. She never thought she'd talk with the man with the skeleton hand. She had a thousand questions to ask him, but settled on one.
"What is Kaos?"
Akamaz took a step back before answering, seemingly puzzled by the question. He peered up at the canopy of palms and the purple sky.
"Kaos's kind created the universe. They lived in a perfect world. They knew God. Atman. They built our universe and ascended to become one with Atman, but before they did, they realized that the universe couldn't exist without an Observer to hold it in being - as Atman held their world in being. One needed to stay behind. Kaos was chosen. Our universe exists by His will. He is the being who passes divine consciousness onto us. He is all form. Without Him, reality unravels. Blurs. All is in flux - no form - always shifting."
"Shifting?" Ashley clutched her throbbing arm. "Like me?"
"I don't know what you are." Akamaz studied Ashley up and down. "Until now, I thought you were a spirit of the forest. A ghost. . .or a dream."
"Do you know who Jezna is? Or Phan?"
"Jezna was the first life. A conduit. Just after creation, there was nothing but the void. Kaos was alone. Then, Jezna appeared out of the ether. A traveler from the end of time. Kaos took pity on her and created Phan to care for her, but Phan neglected Jezna, focusing only on his own creations. Jezna died. Frozen in a dark sea of ice. For his failure, Kaos cursed Phan with madness, and burdened him with ten thousand tasks, that would take all of time to complete."
"I met Phan," Ashley croaked. "Phan said I'm Jezna. That we're the same person."
"Phan is mad and has been warped by his madness. Do not listen to what Phan says. When Jezna returns, it portends the end of days."
I . . . I'm the end of days?
Ashley focused on the design stenciled into Akamaz's armor. She recognized it. It was the same hex she'd put under Kayla's bed. Nine insects radiating out from a central wheel.
"What do you call these?" She touched his breastplate, tracing the insects with her fingertips. She had seen each one numerous times, but the artist whom had drawn them obviously hadn't. Many of them looked exaggerated or anatomically incorrect. The khlathu had no tail. The medrel looked more like a ladybug than a butterfly.
"The Nine Ides." Akamaz glanced down at his armor. "Kaos leaks into our world, tasting of our consciousness through each one. His totem Ide is the khlathu - entropy - the Great Decay." He pointed to the mis-drawn mantis creature. "Anyone who sees one will be consumed by it. The khlathu's hunger is infinite. A black hole. They swallow all they see."
"I've seen them before. They haven't eaten me. What does that mean?"
"You must be special to Kaos. . . "
Akamaz reached into his armor and produced a silver bag that looked like a tube of toothpaste. He held it next to Ashley's arm and squeezed it. A blue gel oozed out from the tip, and he gently rubbed the gel onto her wounds, numbing them.
"Kaos protects you from their appetite. I too am special. I died when I was five years old. Just before I first saw you. My soul was swallowed by the abyss of Gehenna. But the void could not contain me. Nothing can contain me. I am Akamaz the Rooster. Death has no meaning to me."
Ashley looked down at her arm. The cuts no longer hurt. The gel had sealed them. She noticed a yarba hovering in the air next to her. A tiny, metallic green and blue hummingbird. It inserted its needle-thin beak into her ear. She felt its tongue brush against her eardrum and her heartbeat slowed. She had always fantasized about meeting someone like her - someone who knew what she was - someone else who was different.
Ashley felt an innate connection to Akamaz. She prayed he felt the same thing.
"Will you protect me from Phan? Phan took my friend. It wants me to kill myself to get her back. It wants me to drown myself in the ocean."
"I will protect you. You are my Ide, Ashna. I chose you as it the first time I saw you. I've never been able to forget your face. That's why I've made it my own." Akamaz tapped his mask. "I've scoured countless worlds for you, but thought you would remain a vision."
"Really?" Ashley mumbled, mesmerized. "I - I looked for you too, but I thought you might hurt me like the others. The ones who try to rape me. They always try to hurt me."
"My people believe that conduits are cursed. But you are different. I could sense it when I saw you in the marsh." He wiped a tear from Ashley's face. "You cannot die. You are what gives me meaning. Without you, I'd crumble."
Ashley hugged Akamaz, pressing her face against his breastplate. He was as thick as a tree. Her arms couldn't get halfway around him. He hugged her back, stroking her hair with thick gauntlets.
A stiff wind blew through the forest, shaking the ferns. Ashley looked up and could see dozens of silver objects in the sky, high above the forest canopy. They looked like rectangles, hovering next to an alien, blue sun.
"What are those?'
"Ships." Akamaz glanced upward. "My people use them to sail between stars. The sky is the sea to us."
The wind blew again. Stronger this time. It was icy and gave Ashley goosebumps. A strange tingle rocked her body, and suddenly, she felt very warm.
"I - I think I'm going to shift soon." Ashley pulled away. "I can feel it."
Akamaz let go of her and drew a wooden rod from his belt. Three-axe blades sprang out of its head with a click. He held the weapon at his side and turned to walk off, into the ferns.
"Good. I can sense something coming. Something evil," He said gravely. "You are in danger here. It's best you leave."
"Will I ever see you again? How - how can I find you? Will you help me find my friend? I don't know how to control where I shift."
"Look for me at the edge of endless waters. Follow the current." Akamaz walked into the leaves. "I have seen that we shall meet again, Ashna. Somewhere beyond the Sama Sea."
Ashley watched Akamaz meld into the green. The wind blew again. This time it seemed to blow through her.
Ashley shifted. She felt something squishy under her face. She was lying in a muddy ditch. A car screeched by to her left, meandering down a lonely country road. It was very dark. The trees surrounding her looked grey from the headlights. She stood up, brushed a few globs of mud off her clothes, and walked out to the road.
There was a street sign up at a traffic light several hundred feet away. She staggered over to it in a dreamy fugue, unsure of where she was.
Skyline Drive.
A
shley knew that street. It was very close to her house. She didn't recognize much else around her, but she'd never walked home through the woods. She quickly shuffled back into the weeds, shifting through them, fluttering her way parallel to the street, and into her development.
When Ashley reached her house, she saw two police cruisers parked outside of it, as well as Ronald's pickup. The cruisers' lights were flashing, but the vehicles were empty.
Ashley wondered if Doris had reported her missing. She stayed in the woods for twenty or so minutes, until the police left the house and drove off.
The Book of the Nine Ides Page 9
